Method and system for integrating online sales of consumer products with the sale of corresponding insurance

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, apparatus, and non-transitory computer readable media are described for integrating the online purchase of a product with the purchase of an insurance policy providing coverage for the product. When a customer initiates the purchase of a product through an online retailer, various aspects include obtaining personal information for the customer, as well as product information for the product. Based upon this information, various aspects may include determining whether the customer is eligible to purchase insurance, and assessing a level of risk in providing a particular type of insurance coverage to the customer. Additionally, various aspects may further include determining an insurance quote based upon this level of risk and transmitting an offer to purchase the insurance policy to the customer. The customer may then purchase the product and insurance policy in one transaction such that binding insurance coverage for the product is provided at the time of purchase.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/672,065 entitled “Method And System For Integrating Online Sales OfConsumer Products With The Sale Of Corresponding Insurance,” filed onNov. 1, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/828,693 entitled “Method And System For Integrating Online SalesOf Consumer Products With The Sale Of Corresponding Insurance,” filed onAug. 18, 2015, which claims priority to and the benefit of the filingdate of provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 62/081,865 entitled“Method And System For Integrating Online Sales Of Consumer ProductsWith The Sale Of Corresponding Insurance,” filed on Nov. 19, 2014, theentire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to systems, methods, apparatus,and non-transitory computer readable media for handling and/orprocessing online insurance purchases and, more particularly tointegrating the online sale of an insurance policy with the purchase ofan insurable product.

BACKGROUND

Today, customers purchase a variety of products through onlineretailers. For example, a customer may purchase vehicles, homes,jewelry, electronics, machinery, etc., online. Insurance for theseproducts may also be purchased online, but customers purchase insurancepolicies separately from the product for which they provide coverage.For example, a customer may purchase a car online through a dealershipwebsite. However, the customer must purchase insurance coverage for thecar through an additional service, resulting in a time consuming andinconvenient process, particularly in situations where purchasinginsurance for the product is mandatory (e.g., auto insurance in somestates).

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present embodiments may relate to integrating the online sale of aninsurance policy with the online sale of an insurable product. When acustomer purchases an insurable product online, an insurance providermay receive information about the customer via a communication network.The insurance provider may analyze this information to determine whetherthe customer may be eligible to purchase an insurance policy providingcoverage for the insurable product. If the insurance provider determinesthat the customer is eligible, an offer to purchase the insurance policymay be transmitted to the customer via the communication network.Moreover, the insurance provider may receive and analyze additionalcustomer information to determine an appropriate insurance premium forthe policy. The insurance premium amount may also be transmitted to thecustomer via the communication network, and the customer may purchasethe insurance policy along with the insurable product through oneservice.

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of integrating an onlineinsurance purchase with an online purchase of an insurable product maybe provided. The method may include: (1) obtaining (via one or moreprocessors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or datatransmission) an indication of an online selection of an insurableproduct by a customer, wherein the insurable product may be selected viaan online retailer; (2) receiving (via the one or more processors,and/or wired or wireless communication and/or data transmission) fromthe online retailer, user history information corresponding to thecustomer; and/or (3) determining (via the one or more processors)whether the customer is eligible for an online insurance purchase whichmay provide coverage for the insurable product according to a set ofeligibility rules, based upon the user history information correspondingto the customer. When the customer is eligible for the online insurancepurchase, the method may include: (4) receiving (via the one or moreprocessors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or datatransmission) customer insurance risk information for the customer; (5)determining (via the one or more processors) a level of risk forinsuring the customer based upon the customer insurance riskinformation; (6) determining (via the one or more processors) aninsurance quote based upon the level of risk for insuring the customer;and/or (7) transmitting (via the one or more processors, and/or wired orwireless communication and/or data transmission) an indication of atemporary or binding offer (such as an actionable offer or quote forinsurance) to provide insurance for the insurable product which is to bedisplayed in a first order review page (and/or on a display or displayscreen), wherein the first order review page may include an indicationof the insurable product. Upon receiving a request from the customer topurchase insurance, the method may include: (8) transmitting (via theone or more processors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/ordata transmission) the insurance quote to be displayed in a second orderreview page (and/or on the display or display screen) to facilitateproviding immediately binding insurance coverage for the insurableproduct at the time of purchase. The method may include additional,fewer, or alternative actions, including those discussed elsewhereherein.

In another aspect, a system for integrating an online insurance purchasewith an online purchase of an insurable product may be provided. Thesystem may include a communication network, one or more processorscommunicatively coupled to the communication network and/or anon-transitory computer-readable memory coupled to the one or moreprocessors and storing thereon instructions. When executed by the one ormore processors, the instructions may cause the system to: (1) receive,from an online retailer and via the communication network, an indicationof an online selection of an insurable product by a customer, whereinthe insurable product may be selected via the online retailer; and/or(2) receive, from the online retailer, user history informationcorresponding to the customer. The instructions may further cause thesystem to: (3) determine whether the customer may be eligible for anonline insurance purchase which provides coverage for the insurableproduct according to a set of eligibility rules, based upon the userhistory information corresponding to the customer; and/or when thecustomer is eligible for the online insurance purchase, the instructionsmay cause the system to: (4) receive customer insurance risk informationfor the customer; (5) determine a level of risk for insuring thecustomer based upon the customer insurance risk information; (6)determine an insurance quote based upon the level of risk for insuringthe customer; and/or (7) transmit, via the communication network, anindication of an offer (such as a binding or actionable offer) toprovide insurance for the insurable product to be displayed in a firstorder review page on a web-enabled device of the customer, wherein thefirst order review page may include an indication of the insurableproduct. Upon receiving a request from the customer to purchase theinsurance, the instructions may cause the system to: (8) transmit, viathe communication network, the insurance quote to be displayed in asecond order review page on the web-enabled device to facilitateproviding immediately binding insurance coverage for the insurableproduct at the time of purchase. The system may include additional,fewer, or alternate components and/or functionality, including thatdiscussed elsewhere herein.

Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following description of the preferred embodiments which have beenshown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, thepresent embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments,and their details are capable of modification in various respects.Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures described below depict various aspects of the system andmethods disclosed therein. It should be understood that each figuredepicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed system andmethods, and that each of the figures is intended to accord with apossible embodiment thereof. Further, wherever possible, the followingdescription refers to the reference numerals included in the followingfigures, in which features depicted in multiple figures are designatedwith consistent reference numerals.

There are shown in the drawings arrangements which are presentlydiscussed, it being understood, however, that the present embodimentsare not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown,wherein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computer network and system onwhich an exemplary insurance integration system may operate inaccordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary insurance providerserver in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary online retailerserver in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2C illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary mobile device inaccordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A depicts an exemplary product display screen of a clientapplication in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3B depicts an exemplary order review screen of a client applicationin accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3C depicts an exemplary insurance coverage selection screen of aclient application in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3D depicts an exemplary additional order review screen of a clientapplication in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3E depicts an exemplary insurance application screen of a clientapplication in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary interaction between the customer, theinsurance provider server and the online retailer server when a customerinitiates the purchase of an insurable product online in accordance withan exemplary aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5A depicts a flow diagram representing an exemplary server-sidemethod for implementing the insurance integration system in accordancewith an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5B depicts a continuation of the flow diagram in FIG. 5A of theexemplary server-side method for implementing the insurance integrationsystem.

The Figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustrationonly. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the followingdiscussion that alternative embodiments of the systems and methodsillustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principlesof the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To integrate the online sale of an insurance policy with the online saleof an insurable product, an insurance integration system may becomenotified when a customer has initiated the purchase of an insurableproduct through an online retailer. The online retailer may thentransmit user history information to the system such as the customer'sname, verified mailing address, a number of transactions completedthrough the online retailer, an approval rating, a credit rating,financial or employment information, etc.

Based upon this information, the system may determine whether thecustomer is or may be eligible to receive an offer to purchase an onlineinsurance policy providing coverage for the insurable product. In oneembodiment, the offer may be an offer for temporary or permanentinsurance coverage, and/or may be an actionable offer that the insuredor insurance customer may act on or otherwise accept. Other types ofoffers are also envisioned.

If the customer is eligible, the system may provide the offer to thecustomer as the customer completes the online purchase of the insurableproduct. When the customer accepts the offer, the system may generate aninsurance quote based upon a determined level of risk for the customer,and/or may provide the insurance quote in an order review screen whichmay include the insurable product and/or its corresponding price. Inthis manner, the customer may purchase both the product and theinsurance policy through a single service, and in some cases, through asingle payment. Therefore, the insurance integration system may providea simple and efficient process for a customer who wants to insure herrecently purchased product.

An insurance provider may offer and/or provide one or more differenttypes of insurance policies. Types of insurance policies may include,for example, homeowner's insurance; condominium owner's insurance;renter's insurance; auto insurance; boat insurance; motorcycleinsurance; snowmobile insurance; personal articles insurance; and othertypes of insurance products. In embodiments as described herein, theinsurance providers initiate and/or process claims related to insurancepolicies that cover one or more property items (e.g., homes,condominiums, apartments, automobiles, jewelry, electronics,televisions, etc.).

When a customer initiates the purchase of (and/or the process ofpurchasing) an insurable product from an online (or other) retailer, aninsurance provider server may receive an indication of the insurableproduct; the product's ownership and maintenance history; the product'sestimated worth, sale price, or condition; and/or other information. Theinsurance provider server may also receive user history information forthe customer from the online retailer or other sources, including thecustomer information indicated elsewhere herein.

The insurance provider server may then analyze the information received.For instance, the insurance provider may compare the user historyinformation (and/or other customer information, such as financial,employment, or credit rating information) for the customer to a set ofstored eligibility rules to determine whether the customer is eligibleto purchase insurance for the insurable product. If the customer iseligible, the insurance provider server may then transmit an offer topurchase insurance to the online retailer, which in turn may transmitthe offer to the customer via an online retailer web page.

If the customer accepts the offer, for example, by clicking on an optionto accept on the online retailer web page, the insurance provider mayreceive more detailed information for the customer, from the onlineretailer, and/or from a third party. The insurance provider server maythen determine an insurance quote for one or more insurance policiescorresponding to the insurable product, and/or transmit the insurancequote to the customer via the online retailer web page. Additionally oralternatively, the insurance quote may be transmitted to the customerwith the offer in the first instance. The offer and/or quote forinsurance may be actionable by the customer. For example, by thecustomer clicking acceptance of the offer and/or quote, the insurancecoverage may become binding and/or otherwise in force upon the customerpurchasing the product.

In one embodiment, the customer may purchase both the insurable productand the corresponding insurance policy in a single payment through theonline retailer web page, and/or the retailer may transmit the portionpaid for the insurance to the insurance provider. Other payment methodsmay be used.

Generally speaking, the techniques for integrating the online sale of aninsurance policy with the online sale of an insurable product may beimplemented in an insurance provider server, an online retailer server,a client device, and/or a system that includes several of these devices.However, for clarity, the examples below focus primarily on embodimentsin which the online retailer server generates and/or transmits web pagesand/or application screens to the client device for purchasing an onlineproduct. The insurance provider server may transmit online insuranceoffers and/or insurance quotes to the online retailer server, which inturn, may transmit web pages and/or application screens, including theinsurance offers and/or insurance quotes to the client device. In otherembodiments, the insurance provider server may generate and transmit webpages and/or application screens to the client device, which may includethe insurance offers and/or insurance quotes.

I. Exemplary Environment for Insurance Integration

FIG. 1 illustrates various aspects of an exemplary environmentimplementing an insurance integration system 100. The environment 100may include an insurance provider server 102, an online retailer server104, and/or a plurality of client devices 106-116 which may becommunicatively connected through a network 130, as described below.According to some embodiments, both the insurance provider server 102and the online retailer server 104 may be a combination of hardware andsoftware components, as described in more detail below. The insuranceprovider server 102 may have an associated database 124 for storing datarelated to the operation of the insurance integration system 100 (e.g.,customer records for past or current customers who purchased aninsurance policy from the insurance provider, a set of eligibility rulesfor determining whether a customer is eligible to receive an offer forinsurance, one or more types of online insurance policies, etc.).Moreover, the insurance provider server 102 may include one or moreprocessor(s) 132, such as a microprocessor coupled to a memory 140.

The memory 140 may be tangible, non-transitory memory and/or may includeany types of suitable memory modules, including random access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, other types of persistentmemory, etc. The memory 140 may store, for example instructionsexecutable on the processors 132 for an insurance eligibilitydetermination module (IEDM) 134, an insurance risk assessment module(IRAM) 136 and/or an offer generation module (OGM) 138. The insuranceprovider server 102 is described in more detail below with reference toFIG. 2A.

A. Exemplary Insurance Elibility Determination Module

To determine whether a customer is eligible to purchase an onlineinsurance policy, the insurance eligibility determination module 134 mayreceive user history information for the customer from the onlineretailer server 104. The insurance eligibility determination module 134also may generate a set of eligibility rules and/or retrieve the set ofeligibility rules from the insurance database 124. Moreover, theinsurance eligibility determination module 134 may compare the userhistory information to the set of eligibility rules. If the customer iseligible, an offer to purchase insurance may be generated and/ortransmitted by the insurance eligibility determination module 134 to theonline retailer server 104 (the offer to purchase may also betransmitted along with an initial or final quote, and/or the quotesmentioned below, in some embodiments).

B. Exemplary Insurance Risk Assessment Module

If the offer is accepted by the customer, the insurance risk assessmentmodule 136 may receive personal and/or product information from theonline retailer server 104 as well as third parties such as theDepartment of Motor Vehicles (DMV), a loss history reporting agency, acredit reporting agency, etc. The insurance risk assessment module 136may then assess a level of risk for insuring the customer's productbased upon the personal information and/or the product information, andthe level of risk may be provided to the offer generation module 138.

C. Exemplary Offer Generation Module

The offer generation module 138 may then generate insurance quotes forvarious types of insurance coverage within an insurance policy. Forexample, if the customer is eligible to purchase an auto insurancepolicy, the offer generation module 138 may generate separate insurancequotes for liability coverage, collision coverage, comprehensivecoverage, uninsured motor vehicle coverage, medical payments coverage,replacement cost coverage, actual value coverage, estimated valuecoverage, etc., and/or may generate an insurance quote which may includesome combination of the various types of insurance coverage. Theinsurance quotes may be generated based upon the level of risk forinsuring the customer's product as determined by the insurance riskassessment module 136. The generated insurance quotes may then betransmitted to the online retailer server 104, which in turn, maytransmit the generated insurance quotes to the customer.

D. Exemplary Client Devices

The client devices 106-116 may include, by way of example, a tabletcomputer 106, a cell phone 108, a personal digital assistant (PDA) 110,a mobile device smart-phone 112 also referred to herein as a “mobiledevice,” a laptop computer 114, a desktop computer 116, a portable mediaplayer (not shown), a wearable computing device (not shown), smartglasses, smart watches, phablets, other smart devices, devicesconfigured for wired or wireless RF (Radio Frequency) communication,etc. Of course, any client device appropriately configured may interactwith the insurance integration system 100. The client devices 106-116need not necessarily communicate with the network 130 via a wiredconnection. In some instances, the client devices 106-116 maycommunicate with the network 130 via wireless signals 120 and, in someinstances, may communicate with the network 130 via an interveningwireless and/or wired device 118, which may be a wireless router, awireless repeater, a base transceiver station of a mobile telephonyprovider, etc.

Each of the client devices 106-116 may interact with the insuranceprovider server 102 and/or the online retailer server 104 to receive webpages and/or server data from the insurance provider server 102 and/orthe online retailer server 104 and may display the web pages and/orserver data via a client application and/or an Internet browser(described below). For example, the mobile device 112 may display aproduct display screen 122 of the client application and/or of aretailer web page to a user, may receive an input from the user, and mayinteract with the insurance provider server 102 and/or the onlineretailer server 104 depending on the type of user-specified input. Itwill be appreciated that although only one insurance provider server 102is depicted in FIG. 1 , multiple insurance provider servers 102 may beprovided for the purpose of distributing server load, serving differentweb pages, etc. These multiple insurance provider servers 102 mayinclude a web server, an entity-specific server (e.g. an Apple® server,etc.), a server that is disposed in a retail and/or proprietary network,etc.

Moreover, it will also be appreciated that although only one onlineretailer server 104 is depicted in FIG. 1 , multiple online retailerservers 104 may be provided for the purpose of distributing server load.These multiple online retailer servers 104 may include a server that isdisposed in a retail and/or proprietary network, an independentthird-party server that is not under the control of the entity, etc.

The insurance provider server 102 may communicate with the onlineretailer server 104 via the network 130. The digital network 130 may bea proprietary network, a secure public Internet, a virtual privatenetwork and/or some other type of network, such as dedicated accesslines, plain ordinary telephone lines, satellite links, combinations ofthese, etc. Where the digital network 130 comprises the Internet, datacommunication may take place over the digital network 130 via anInternet communication protocol.

II. Exemplary System Hardware

A. Exemplary Insurance Provider Server

Turning now to FIG. 2A, the insurance provider server 102, may include acontroller 224. The controller 224 may include a program memory 226, amicrocontroller or a microprocessor (MP) 228, a random-access memory(RAM) 230, and/or an input/output (I/O) circuit 234, all of which areinterconnected via an address/data bus 232. The program memory 226 andthe microprocessor 228 may be similar to the memory 140 and processor132 respectively, as described in FIG. 1 . In some embodiments, thecontroller 224 may also include, or otherwise be communicativelyconnected to, a database 239 or other data storage mechanism (e.g., oneor more hard disk drives, optical storage drives, solid state storagedevices, etc.). The database 239 may include data such as customer webprofiles, product data, mobile device application data, web pagetemplates and/or web pages, and other data necessary to interact withthe user through the network 130. It should be appreciated that althoughFIG. 2A depicts only one microprocessor 228, the controller 224 mayinclude multiple microprocessors 228. Similarly, the memory of thecontroller 224 may include multiple RAMs 230 and/or multiple programmemories 226. Although FIG. 2A depicts the I/O circuit 234 as a singleblock, the I/O circuit 234 may include a number of different types ofI/O circuits. The controller 224 may implement the RAM(s) 230 and/or theprogram memories 226 as semiconductor memories, magnetically readablememories, and/or optically readable memories, for example.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the program memory 226 and/or the RAM 230 may storevarious applications for execution by the microprocessor 228. Forexample, a user-interface application 236 may provide a user interfaceto the insurance provider server 102, which user interface may, forexample, allow a network administrator to configure, troubleshoot, ortest various aspects of the server's operation, or otherwise to accessinformation thereon. A server application 238 may operate to generateand transmit insurance quotes and/or offers to the online retailerserver 104 and receive information from the user transmitted back to theinsurance provider server 102 via the online retailer server 104, asdescribed below. The server application 238 may be a single module 238or a plurality of modules 238A, 238B.

While the server application 238 is depicted in FIG. 2A as including twomodules, 238A and 238B, the server application 238 may include anynumber of modules accomplishing tasks related to implantation of theinsurance provider server 102. By way of example, the module 238A mayinclude the insurance eligibility determination module 134, the module238B may include the insurance risk assessment module 136, and/or athird module 238C (not shown) may include the offer generation module138.

B. Exemplary Online Retailer Server

Turning now to FIG. 2B, the online retailer server 104, may include acontroller 225. The controller 225 may include a program memory 227, amicrocontroller or a microprocessor (MP) 229, a random-access memory(RAM) 231, and/or an input/output (I/O) circuit 235, all of which areinterconnected via an address/data bus 233. In some embodiments, thecontroller 225 may also include, or otherwise be communicativelyconnected to, a database 244 or other data storage mechanism (e.g., oneor more hard disk drives, optical storage drives, solid state storagedevices, etc.). The database 244 may include customer web profiles,product data, mobile device application data, web page templates and/orweb pages, and other data necessary to interact with the user throughthe network 130. It should be appreciated that although FIG. 2B depictsonly one microprocessor 229, the controller 225 may include multiplemicroprocessors 229. Similarly, the memory of the controller 225 mayinclude multiple RAMs 231 and/or multiple program memories 227. AlthoughFIG. 2B depicts the I/O circuit 235 as a single block, the I/O circuit235 may include a number of different types of I/O circuits. Thecontroller 225 may implement the RAM(s) 231 and/or the program memories227 as semiconductor memories, magnetically readable memories, and/oroptically readable memories, for example.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the program memory 227 and/or the RAM 231 may storevarious applications for execution by the microprocessor 229. A serverapplication 241 operates to populate and transmit client applicationdata and/or web pages and receive information from the user transmittedback to the online retailer server 104, as described below. The serverapplication 241 may be a single module 241 or a plurality of modules241A, 241B. While the server application 241 is depicted in FIG. 2B asincluding two modules, 241A and 241B, the server application 241 mayinclude any number of modules accomplishing tasks related toimplantation of the online retailer server 104. By way of example, themodule 241A may transmit user history information for a customer to theinsurance provider server 102, while the module 241B may communicatewith the mobile device 112 (or any of the client devices 106-116) toreceive an online payment.

C. Exemplary Mobile Device

Referring now to FIG. 2C, the mobile device 112 (or any of the clientdevices 106-116) may include a display 240, a communication unit 258, auser-input device (not shown), and, like the insurance provider server102, a controller 242. Similar to the controller 224, the controller 242may include a program memory 246, a microcontroller or a microprocessor(MP) 248, a random-access memory (RAM) 250, and/or an input/output (I/O)circuit 254, all of which are interconnected via an address/data bus252. The program memory 246 may include an operating system 260, a datastorage 262, a plurality of software applications 264, and/or aplurality of software routines 268. The operating system 260, forexample, may include one of a plurality of mobile platforms such as theiOS®, Android™, Palm® webOS, Windows Mobile/Phone, BlackBerry® OS, orSymbian® OS mobile technology platforms, developed by Apple Inc., GoogleInc., Palm Inc. (now Hewlett-Packard Company), Microsoft Corporation,Research in Motion (RIM), and Nokia, respectively. The data storage 262may include data such as user profiles, application data for theplurality of applications 264, routine data for the plurality ofroutines 268, and/or other data necessary to interact with the insuranceprovider server 102 and/or the online retailer server 104 through thedigital network 130. In some embodiments, the controller 242 may alsoinclude, or otherwise be communicatively connected to, other datastorage mechanisms (e.g., one or more hard disk drives, optical storagedrives, solid state storage devices, etc.) that reside within the mobiledevice 112.

The communication unit 258 may communicate with the insurance providerserver 102 and/or the online retailer server 104 via any suitablewireless communication protocol network, such as a wireless telephonynetwork (e.g., GSM, CDMA, LTE, etc.), a wi-fi network (802.11standards), a WiMAX network, a Bluetooth network, etc. The user-inputdevice (not shown) may include a “soft” keyboard that is displayed onthe display 240 of the mobile device 212, an external hardware keyboardcommunicating via a wired and/or a wireless connection (e.g., aBluetooth keyboard), an external mouse, and/or any other suitableuser-input device.

As discussed with reference to the controller 224, it should beappreciated that although FIG. 2C depicts only one microprocessor 248,the controller 242 may include multiple microprocessors 248. Similarly,the memory of the controller 242 may include multiple RAMs 250 and/ormultiple program memories 246. Although the FIG. 2C depicts the I/Ocircuit 254 as a single block, the I/O circuit 254 may include a numberof different types of I/O circuits. The controller 242 may implement theRAM(s) 250 and/or the program memories 246 as semiconductor memories,magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readable memories, forexample.

The one or more processors 248 may be adapted and/or configured toexecute any one or more of the plurality of software applications 264and/or any one or more of the plurality of software routines 268residing in the program memory 242, in addition to other softwareapplications. One of the plurality of applications 264 may be a clientapplication 266 that may be implemented as a series of machine-readableinstructions for performing the various tasks associated with receivinginformation at, displaying information on, and/or transmittinginformation from the mobile device 112.

One of the plurality of applications 264 may be a native applicationand/or web browser 270, such as Apple's Safari®, Google Android™ mobileweb browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer® for Mobile, Opera Mobile™,that may be implemented as a series of machine-readable instructions forreceiving, interpreting, and/or displaying web page information from theinsurance provider server 102 and/or the online retailer server 104while also receiving inputs from the user. Another application of theplurality of applications may include an embedded web browser 276 thatmay be implemented as a series of machine-readable instructions forreceiving, interpreting, and/or displaying web page information from theservers 102 and/or 104. One of the plurality of routines may include aproduct selection routine 272 that receives a selection from a user of aproduct that the user wants to purchase and/or transmits the selectionto the online retailer server 104 and/or the insurance provider server102. Another routine in the plurality of routines may include a paymentroutine 274 that receives credit card data from a user, and/or transmitsthe credit card data to the online retailer server 104.

Preferably, a customer and/or a user may launch the client application266 from a client device, such as one of the client devices 106-116, tocommunicate with the insurance provider server 102 and/or the onlineretailer server 104 to implement the insurance integration system 100.Additionally, the customer and/or the user may also launch orinstantiate any other suitable user interface application (e.g., thenative application or web browser 270, and/or any other one of theplurality of software applications 264) to access the insurance providerserver 102 and/or the online retailer server 104 to realize theinsurance integration system 100.

As used herein, the term “customer” indicates someone purchasing anonline retail product from the online retailer. Moreover, the term“customer” is not limited to a single person, but may instead be anyperson or persons having a reason or desire to purchase one or moreonline retail products. Generally, the term “user” is used whenreferring to a person who is operating one of the client devices 106-116and is not exclusive of the term “customer.”

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2C, to access the online retailerserver 104, the user may execute the client application 266 on one ofthe web-enabled devices 106-116, such as the mobile device 112. Usingthe client application 266, the user may request server data (not shown)by navigating a series of client application screens, such as theproduct display screen 122 of the client application 266. FIGS. 3A-Edepict client application pages and/or screens that the online retailerserver 104 may transmit in various embodiments of the insuranceintegration system 100. However, the screens depicted in FIGS. 3A-E aremerely illustrations of an exemplary embodiment. In some embodiments,the online retailer server 104 may transmit web pages.

In any event, the user may launch the client application 266 from one ofthe client devices 106-116 via any suitable manner, such astouch-selecting a client application icon (not shown) on the display 240of the mobile device 212, double-clicking on the client application iconvia a mouse of a computer 116 and/or a trackpad (not shown) of a laptop114. After the user launches the client application 266, the productdisplay screen of the client application 266 may be displayed to theuser on the mobile device 112.

III. Exemplary Screenshots of a Web-Based Application

In the present aspects, the following screenshots shown in FIGS. 3A-3Eare examples of what may be displayed to a user as part of a web-basedapplication. In the present aspects, the following exemplary screenshotsshown in FIGS. 3A-3E may be displayed using any suitable client device106-116, such as a tablet computer 106, a cell phone 108, a PDA 110, amobile device 112, a laptop computer 114, a desktop computer 116, aportable media player (not shown), a wearable computing device (notshown), smart glasses, smart watches, phablets, other smart devices,and/or devices configured for wired or wireless RF communication, forexample, as shown in FIG. 1 . As will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the relevant art(s), the exemplary screenshots shownin FIGS. 3A-3E are for illustrative purposes, and their associatedfunctionality may be implemented using any suitable format and/or designfor facilitating their corresponding described functionalities withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the present aspects of the web-application may be used by acustomer to obtain any number and/or type of insurance policies whichprovide coverage for the insurable product. As will be appreciated bythose of ordinary skill in the relevant art(s), any suitable number ofinteractive portions and/or fields may be presented to the customerbased upon the particular type of policy the customer is applying for.

A. Exemplary Product Display Screen

With reference now to FIG. 3A, a product display screen 300 may includeindicators 302, 304 for one or more products sold by the online retailerand/or by private sellers selling products on the online retailer'swebsite. An indicator for a product may be, for example, an image of theproduct 304, text describing the product 302, a product identificationnumber (e.g., Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)), and/or any othersuitable indicator which identifies a product. Moreover, the productdisplay screen 300 may also include information about the product suchas reviews for the product, product specification information, etc.Additionally, the product display screen 300 may include a user controlfor selecting each displayed product for initiating the online purchaseof the product. For example, the user control may be an “Add to cart”button 306, may be a checkbox, may be a drop down menu for selecting aquantity of the product, etc. In other embodiments, the customer mayselect the product by touch-selecting and/or double-clicking on theindicator for the product. While the product display screen 300 depictsone product, any suitable number of products may be depicted on theproduct display screen 300.

B. Exemplary Order Review Screen

When the user selects a product and initiates a purchase, the clientapplication 266 may display an order review screen 320, such as thatdepicted in FIG. 3B. Moreover, the online retailer server 104 maydetermine whether the product is an insurable product corresponding toone of the insurance policies offered by the insurance provider, and/ormay transmit an indication of the product to the insurance providerserver 102. The online retailer server 104 may also transmit userhistory information for the user to the insurance provider, such as forexample, a business approval rating from other customers on the onlineretailer web page, a number of times the user has entered into atransaction on the online retailer's website, and/or any other suitableuser history information.

The order review screen 320 may include the date 322, an indication ofthe product to be purchased 324 (e.g., the name of the product), a pricefor the product 326, and/or user controls for entering a payment method328. Moreover, if the insurance provider server 102 determines the useris eligible to purchase insurance for the insurable product, theinsurance provider server 102 may transmit an offer to purchaseinsurance to the online retailer server 104, which may in turn transmitthe offer 330 to be displayed on the order review screen 320. A usercontrol such as a checkbox, drop-down menu, etc., may be included forthe user to accept or decline the offer. In some embodiments, theinsurance provider server 102 may transmit the offer to purchaseinsurance to the online retailer server 104 before determining whetherthe user is eligible to purchase insurance. Furthermore, a “SubmitPayment” button 332 may also be included in the order review screen 320for the user to submit a payment to purchase the insurable product. Theorder review screen 320 is merely one example of an order review screenwhich may be displayed when a user selects a product. In someembodiments, the order review screen may include an indication of theinsurable product and/or the offer to purchase insurance.

C. Exemplary Insurance Coverage Selection Screen

If the user accepts the offer to purchase insurance with the insuranceproduct, the client application 266 may display an insurance coverageselection screen 340 as depicted in FIG. 3C. In other embodiments, whenthe user accepts the offer to purchase insurance, the user may completethe payment for the insurable product and after the payment process iscompleted, the client application 266 may display the insurance coverageselection screen 340. In yet another embodiment, the client application266 may display the offer to purchase insurance for the insurableproduct on a separate screen (not shown) before or after the usercompletes the payment for the insurable product.

In any event, the insurance coverage selection screen 340 may includeseveral types of insurance coverage which may be purchased by the user.For example, if the insurable product is an automobile, the insuranceprovider server 102 may determine the user is eligible to purchasecollision insurance 342, comprehensive insurance 344, liabilityinsurance 346, uninsured motor vehicle insurance, etc. For each type ofinsurance coverage, the insurance provider server 102 may determine apurchase price for the type of insurance coverage (e.g., a monthlypremium) based upon insurance risk information for the user. Eachmonthly insurance premium 350 (e.g., $20 per month for collisioninsurance) may be displayed with its respective type of insurancecoverage on the insurance coverage selection screen 340, as well as auser control 352 for selecting whether to accept or decline the type ofinsurance coverage. For example, the user control may be a drop downmenu, may be a checkbox, etc. In any event, the insurance coverageselection screen 340 may also include a sum total 354 of each of themonthly premiums for types of insurance coverage selected by the user.An “Add to Cart” button 348 may also be included for purchasing theselected types of insurance coverage. Once the user selects whether toaccept or decline each type of insurance coverage, the clientapplication 266 may display an additional order review screen 360 asdepicted in FIG. 3D.

D. Exemplary Additional Order Review Screen

As FIG. 3D illustrates, the additional order review screen 360 maydisplay the order information 362. The order information may include thename of the product 364, the payment amount 366 for the product, thename of the insurance policy such as “Auto Insurance” 374, the paymentamount for the insurance 376, a sum total payment amount for the productand the insurance 378, the date of the payment 370, and/or user controlsfor entering payment method information 368. For example, the user maypay with a credit card, a debit card, a bank account, coupons, giftcertificates, rewards points from the online retailer, promotion codes,etc. The order information may also include a “Submit Payment” button372.

When the user decides to submit the payment, the payment name, thepayment information (e.g., credit card data) and/or the payment amountmay be transmitted to the online retailer server 104, the insuranceprovider server 102, and/or a combination of the online retailer server104 and the insurance provider server 102. For example, the onlineretailer server 104 may receive the total payment, and/or may transmitthe amount of the purchase price for the insurance policy or someportion thereof to the insurance provider. In other embodiments, theuser may submit two separate payments, one for the product and anotherfor the insurance policy, for example, using two separate order reviewscreens. The additional order review screen 360 is merely one example ofan additional order review screen which may be displayed after a userselects an insurance policy to purchase. In other embodiments, theadditional order review screen may include the name of the insurancepolicy, the payment amount for the insurance policy, and/or a paymentmethod.

In any event, if the credit card is approved, the online retailer server104 may send an order confirmation screen (not shown) to the clientdevice 112 indicating the amount charged to the credit card, anindication of the credit card charged, for example, the last four digitsof the credit card number, and/or an indication that the transaction wasapproved. On the other hand, if the credit card is declined, the onlineretailer server 104 may send an error screen (not shown) indicating thecredit card was declined and requesting the user to select a differentpayment method.

In some embodiments, the insurance risk information for a user may beobtained from the online retailer server 104 and/or from a third partysuch as a credit reporting agency, the DMV, etc. In other embodiments,the insurance risk information may be obtained from the user. In such anembodiment, the insurance provider server 102 may transmit an insuranceapplication screen 380 to the user when the user accepts the offer topurchase insurance. The client application 266 may display the insuranceapplication screen 380 as depicted in FIG. 3E.

E. Exemplary Insurance Application Screen

As FIG. 3E illustrates, the insurance application screen 380 may includeseveral user controls for entering customer insurance risk informationsuch as a name of the customer 382, an address 384, a date of birth 386,a marital status 388, a gender 390, a number of car accidents that theuser has been in 396, etc. The insurance application screen 380 may alsoinclude user controls for entering product insurance risk informationsuch as a vehicle make, model and/or year 392 for the automobilepurchased via the online retailer, a number of antitheft devices in thevehicle 394, a number of safety features in the vehicle (not shown),etc. Moreover, the insurance application screen 380 may include usercontrols for entering any other customer and/or product informationwhich may be used to assess the risk of insuring the product and/orcustomer. The user control for each of these fillable items may be adrop-down menu, may be a checkbox, may be a free form text field, etc.In some embodiments, the insurance provider server 102 may pre-fill someof the insurance information. For example, the insurance provider server102 may obtain the make, model and/or year of the purchased vehicle fromthe online retailer server 104 and as a result, may pre-fill the vehiclemake, model and/or year application fields on the insurance applicationscreen 380. The insurance application screen 380 may also include a“Submit” button 398.

As noted herein, the present embodiments may also be utilized forinsurable products other than vehicles, such as with antiques, jewelry,coins, paintings, electronics, televisions, etc. In addition oralternatively to asking for vehicle make and model, the insuranceapplication screen 380 may ask for (i) an identification of an item tobe purchased and insured, such as via a drop down menu or text entering;(ii) an estimated value and/or replacement cost of the item; (iii) apurchase price of the item; (iv) a condition of the item (new, used,etc.); and/or (v) other conditions or statuses of the item to facilitatedetermining availability of insurance for the item and/or determining anappropriate insurance quote for the item.

IV. Exemplary Sequence Diagram for Insurance Integration

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary interaction 400 between the client device,the insurance provider server, and the online retailer server when auser initiates a purchase of an insurable product. When the user (thecustomer) finds a product on an online retailer website and/orapplication that she would like to purchase, the user may initiate thepurchase 402, for example, by selecting an “Add to Cart” button on oneof the client devices 106-116 as shown in FIG. 3A.

The online retailer server may then determine whether the product is aninsurable product. For example, the insurance provider may provideindications of types of products which the insurance provider insures,and the online retailer server may compare the selected product and/orproduct information for the selected product to the types of productsinsured by the insurance provider. If there is a match, the onlineretailer server may determine that the product is an insurable productand/or may transmit an indication of the customer's selection to theinsurance provider server 404. In other embodiments, the online retailerserver may determine that any product which is capable of being insuredagainst loss and/or harm is an insurable product. In any event, anindication of the customer's selection may include the type of insurableproduct selected by the customer (e.g., an automobile, a home, acondominium, an apartment rental, a motorcycle, a boat, a snowmobile,etc.), the date and/or time of the selection, etc.

The online retailer server may also transmit user history informationfor the customer to the insurance provider server 406. User historyinformation may include a name of the user, a number of transactionscompleted by the user through the online retailer, a business approvalrating for the user, a credit rating for the user, a verified mailingaddress and/or payment method, etc. The business approval rating may bebased upon customer satisfaction of other users who conducted businesswith the customer through the online retailer, and/or may be based uponthe satisfaction of the online retailer with the customer. For example,if the customer agreed to buy a product from another user and did notpay for the product or contact the other user, the customer's businessapproval rating would likely be reduced.

Moreover, if the customer consistently paid the online retailer for theproducts she purchased in full, the customer's business approval ratingmay be high. The business approval rating may be represented by anumeric score, for example from one to a hundred, may be a percentage,may be a category from a set of categories such as “High,” Medium,”and/or “Low,” may be a number of stars, and/or may be represented in anyother suitable manner.

The insurance provider server, and/or in some embodiments, the insuranceeligibility determination module 134, may generate a set of eligibilityrules for determining whether the customer is eligible to receive anoffer to purchase insurance for the insurable product. In someembodiments, the set of eligibility rules may be stored in the insurancedatabase 124 of FIG. 1 . The insurance provider server may store aseparate set of eligibility rules for each type of insurance policy(e.g., a set of eligibility rules for auto insurance, a set ofeligibility rules for homeowners' insurance, etc.), and/or may store oneset of eligibility rules for all insurance policies.

The set of eligibility rules may include one or several predeterminedeligibility thresholds, each corresponding to a different eligibilityfactor for determining whether the customer is eligible to purchaseinsurance. Eligibility factors may include a number of transactions thatthe customer has made through the online retailer, a business approvalrating, a credit rating, identity verification information such as averified mailing address and/or payment method, and/or any othersuitable factor which may indicate that the customer is likely to paythe premiums for the insurance.

For example, the set of eligibility rules may require that a customerhas made 100 or more transactions through the online retailer, has abusiness approval rating of at least 97 percent, a credit rating of atleast 650 or other predetermined threshold, and/or the online retailerhas verified the customer's mailing address. Moreover, the location ofthe customer's place of residence may also be a factor in determiningeligibility. For example, an insurance provider may not want to insuremore than a threshold percentage of homes within a neighborhood. If theoffer is for homeowner's insurance and the customer's home is in aneighborhood in which the insurance provider insures the thresholdpercentage of homes, the customer may not be eligible to receive anoffer to purchase homeowner's insurance. Additionally, the customer'saddress and/or other user history information may be compared to theinsurance provider's customer records, for example, in the insurancedatabase 124. In this manner, the insurance provider server may suppressoffers for existing customers in certain situations. For example, if theexisting customer has auto insurance and purchases a car though theonline retailer, the insurance provider server may suppress an offer foran auto insurance policy because insurance coverage for the additionalcar would have to be combined with the previous auto insurance policy.

In some embodiments, the set of eligibility rules may be scaled suchthat customers who exceed one predetermined eligibility threshold by awide margin may be determined eligible even if they do not exceed thepredetermined eligibility threshold for every eligibility factor. Forexample, a customer with a verified mailing address, a credit rating of800 and/or a business approval rating of 100 percent may be determinedeligible even if she only conducted 80 transactions through the onlineretailer. In other embodiments, each eligibility factor may be weighted,scaled, etc., to determine whether the customer is eligible to purchaseinsurance.

In any event, the user history information for the customer may becompared to the generated set of eligibility rules 408, for example, bythe insurance eligibility determination module 134. If the customer'suser history information meets each of the requirements set by theeligibility rules, the insurance provider server may transmit an offerto sell insurance for the insurable product 410 to the online retailerserver to be displayed on an order review page and/or applicationscreen. The present aspects that utilize user history information fromthe online retailer server advantageously allow for a quick and accuratedetermination of customer eligibility, improving processing speed aswell as the accuracy of the information received.

In other embodiments, the insurance provider server may transmit theoffer before determining eligibility. In such an embodiment, eligibilitymay be determined after the customer transmits a request to purchaseinsurance.

In any event, the online retailer server may transmit the order reviewpage including the offer, to the client device 412. In some embodiments,if the insurance provider server does not receive all of the necessaryuser history information to determine whether the customer is eligible(e.g., does not receive an indication of a verified mailing address),the insurance provider server may transmit the offer with a disclaimerstating that the offer is pending based upon the customer's answers toan inquiry by the insurance provider. If the customer accepts thepending offer, the insurance provider may transmit additional questionsto be displayed on the client device, and the customer's answers may bereceived as user history information and compared to the set ofeligibility rules.

When the customer transmits a request to purchase insurance 414 to theonline retailer server, for example, by selecting the checkbox 330 inFIG. 3B or in any other suitable manner, the online retailer server maytransmit personal information for the customer 416 and/or productinformation for the insurable product 418 to the insurance providerserver and/or in some embodiments the insurance risk assessment module136.

Personal information for the customer (also referred to herein as“customer insurance risk information”) may include the customer's name,date of birth, address, marital status, gender, contact information suchas an email address and/or phone number, household information, type ofresidence, military deployment information, and/or any other informationwhich may be used to assess a level of risk for insuring the customer.Moreover, the personal information received may also be specific to thetype of product covered by the insurance. For example, if the type ofproduct is a motor vehicle such as a car, the online retailer server mayalso transmit driving history information for the customer such as thenumber of accidents that the customer has been in, a number of motorvehicles owned by the customer, an expected annual mileage for thevehicle, a primary use for the vehicle, whether the vehicle is financed,etc. In some embodiments, insurance risk information may be determinedbased upon the personal information. For example, a risk location forthe customer may be based upon the customer's address.

Product information for the insurable product (also referred to hereinas “product risk insurance information”) may include a type of productsuch as motor vehicle, home, boat, snowmobile, etc., a purchase pricefor the product, and/or a product name, product number and/or any otherproduct identification. The product information received may also bespecific to the type of product. Using the same example as above, if thetype of product is a motor vehicle, the online retailer may alsotransmit a vehicle identification number, a year, make, and/or model forthe vehicle, vehicle purchase history for the automobile, an indicationof the antitheft devices in the automobile, an indication of the safetyfeatures in the automobile, etc. If the type of product is a home, theproduct information may include the size of the home, a number ofstories for the home, a number of bedrooms and/or bathrooms for thehome, the year the home was built, the overall condition of the home,additional liability hazards such as a swimming pool, etc. In someembodiments, insurance risk information may be determined based upon theproduct information.

Some or all of the personal and/or product information may be receivedfrom the online retailer server. For example, customers may be requiredto enter personal information to make a purchase through the onlineretailer. Moreover, the online retailer and/or third-party sellers maybe required to enter product information on the online retailer web pageso the buyer has enough information before making a purchase. However,while the product and/or personal information may be received from theonline retailer server, the online retailer server may not include allof the product and/or personal information necessary for the insuranceprovider server to appropriately assess the risk in insuring the productfor the customer.

In some embodiments, the insurance provider server may receiveadditional and/or alternative product and/or personal information fromthird parties such as Motor Vehicle Reports (MVRs) from the DMV, LossHistory Reports (LHRs) from a loss history reporting agency, creditreports from a credit reporting agency, etc. In other embodiments, theinsurance provider server and/or the insurance risk assessment module136 may also receive product and/or personal information from the userif the information is not obtained automatically from the onlineretailer server and/or a third party. For example, a user may enterpersonal and/or product information via the insurance application screen380 of FIG. 3E.

The insurance provider server, and in some embodiments the insurancerisk assessment module 136, may use the personal information and/or theproduct information to assess a level of risk 420 in insuring thecustomer's insurable product. In some embodiments, the insuranceprovider server may compare the customer's personal information to theinsurance provider's customer records, for example, in the insurancedatabase 124. If the customer has previously been insured by theinsurance provider for a same or different type of insurance policy, thelevel of risk may be assessed based upon the insurance provider's pastexperiences with the customer. For example, if the customer previouslyqualified for a safe driver discount, the customer may be at low riskfor an auto insurance policy.

Moreover, if the customer has not previously been insured by theinsurance provider, but based upon the customer's personal informationthe insurance provider server determines that a family member of thecustomer has been insured (e.g., by name, by mailing address, etc.), thelevel of risk for the customer may be assessed at least partially basedupon the family member. For example, if the family member has purchasedauto insurance for two vehicles and the customer wants to purchase autoinsurance for a third vehicle, the level of risk may be reduced. This isbecause a household which owns three vehicles is less likely to driveany one of the three vehicles than a household which owns one vehicle.

Furthermore, the level of risk may be adjusted based upon any otherpersonal and/or product information for the customer and/or theinsurable product, respectively. For example, for a homeowner'sinsurance policy, the level of risk for a home built 30 years ago inpoor condition that has two bedrooms and ten people living in the homemay be very high. On the other hand, the level of risk may be very lowfor a new home in excellent condition that has four bedrooms and threepeople living in it, where the homeowner has excellent credit and hasnever made an insurance claim. The level of risk may be a numeric score(e.g., from one to a hundred), may be a percentage, may be a categoryfrom a set of categories such as “Very High,” “High,” “Medium,” and/or“Low,” and/or may be any other suitable indicator of a level of risk.

Since the premiums quoted may be based upon the risk assessments, thepresent aspects that utilize automatically transmitting/receivingpersonal and/or product information to generate risk assessmentsadvantageously allow for a fast and accurate premium quote to be offeredto the customer.

Once the level of risk is assessed, the insurance provider server, andin some embodiments the offer generation module 138, may determine aninsurance quote based upon the level of risk 422. The insurance quotemay be separated into several types of coverage which the customer maychoose from. For example, if the type of insurance policy is autoinsurance, the insurance provider server may determine separateinsurance quotes for liability coverage, medical payments coverage,collision coverage, comprehensive coverage, uninsured motor vehiclecoverage, underinsured motor vehicle coverage, car rental and/or travelexpenses coverage, etc. The insurance quote may be a purchase price suchas a monthly premium for each type of coverage and/or a total monthlypremium for all selected types of coverage. The insurance providerserver may transmit the insurance quote to the online retailer server424 to be displayed on the client device in an additional order reviewpage 426 as depicted in FIG. 3D. In other embodiments, the insuranceprovider server may transmit the insurance coverage selection screen 340to the client device for the user to accept or decline each type ofcoverage.

After the user reviews the additional order review page including theproduct to be purchased, the purchase price for the product, theinsurance policy and/or types of coverage for the insurance policy, thepurchase price for the insurance policy, the payment method, etc., theuser may select a “Submit Payment” button to purchase both the productand the insurance policy. In some embodiments, the online retailer mayreceive the total payment (in some instances the online retailer mayforward the amount of the purchase price for the product or some portionthereof to a third-party seller), and/or may transmit the amount of thepurchase price for the insurance policy or some portion thereof to theinsurance provider. For example, the online retailer may receive acommission on the sale of the insurance policy.

In some scenarios, a higher monthly premium for the insurance policy maycorrespond to a higher commission for the online retailer (e.g., a fivepercent commission). In other scenarios, a lower monthly premium for theinsurance policy may correspond to a higher commission for the onlineretailer because the risk is lower for the insurance provider.

In other embodiments, the purchase price for the product may betransmitted to the online retailer and the purchase price for theinsurance policy may be transmitted separately to the insuranceprovider. In yet other embodiments, the user may submit two separatepayments, one for the product and another for the insurance policy, forexample, using two separate order review screens.

Furthermore, in some embodiments after the purchase has been made, theinsurance provider server may assign an insurance agent to the insurancepolicy and may transmit the insurance policy, the user historyinformation, the personal information, the product information, thetypes of coverage elected, etc., to the insurance agent. The insuranceagent may then adjust the premiums, for example, based upon furtherand/or corrected information discovered by the insurance agent and/orfor any other suitable reason. The insurance provider server may thentransmit a notification to the customer that the premiums for theinsurance policy have been adjusted, for example, via email, and/oradjustments to the premiums may be backdated such that the customer mayreceive a refund on the purchase price for the insurance policy.

V. Exemplary Flow Diagram for Web-Based Application

FIG. 5A depicts a flow diagram representing an exemplary method 500 forintegrating an online insurance purchase with an online purchase of aninsurable product. The method 500 may be executed on the insuranceprovider server 102, the online retailer server 104, or some combinationof the insurance provider server 102 and the online retailer server 104.In some embodiments, the method 500 may be implemented in a set ofinstructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable memory andexecutable on one or more processors of the insurance provider server102. For example, at least a portion of the method 500 may be performedby the insurance eligibility determination module 134, the insurancerisk assessment module 136, and/or the offer generation module 138 ofFIG. 1A. In some embodiments, blocks 502-512 may be performed by theinsurance eligibility determination module 134, blocks 514-520 may beperformed by the insurance risk assessment module 136, and/or blocks522-530 may be performed by the offer generation module 138.

At block 502, an indication of an online selection of an insurableproduct may be received in addition to a type of the insurable productand/or user history information for the customer who selected theinsurable product (block 504). For example, the insurable product may bean automobile, a boat, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, real estate property,a personal article, etc. The user history information for the customermay include a name of the user, a number of transactions completed bythe user through the online retailer, a business approval rating for theuser, a credit rating for the user, a verified mailing address and/orpayment method, etc.

The insurance provider server 102 may also generate a set of eligibilityrules for purchasing insurance (block 506), and compare the user historyinformation to the set of eligibility rules (block 508). For example, ifthe insurable product is a home, the set of eligibility rules mayrequire that the customer has completed at least 100 transactionsthrough the online retailer, that the customer has a business approvalrating of at least 95 percent, that the home purchased by the customeris in a neighborhood having less than 20 percent of its propertiesinsured by the insurance provider, and/or that the customer has averified payment method for purchasing the insurance. Based upon the setof eligibility rules, the insurance provider server 102 may determinewhether the customer is eligible to purchase insurance covering theinsurable product. If the customer is not determined eligible theprocess may end. In some embodiments, if the information for determiningeligibility is incomplete, the insurance provider server 102 may promptthe user with several questions, for example, through the onlineretailer web page to determine whether the customer is eligible topurchase insurance.

If the customer is (or may be) eligible, the insurance provider server102 may transmit an offer to purchase insurance providing coverage forthe insurable product (block 512). In some embodiments, the insuranceprovider server 102 may transmit the offer to the online retailer server104 to be displayed on an order review screen. If the customer acceptsthe offer, for example, by selecting a checkbox and/or other usercontrol on the client device 106-116, personal and/or productinformation may be obtained from the online retailer server (block 516).

Moving on to FIG. 5B, additional product and/or personal information maybe obtained from a third party (block 518) such as the DMV, a creditreporting agency, a loss history reporting agency, etc. In someembodiments, some of the personal and/or product information may also beobtained from the customer. The personal and/or product informationobtained may depend upon the type of insurance policy which covers theinsurable product.

For example, for a homeowner's insurance policy, personal informationmay include the customer's name, date of birth, address, marital status,gender, contact information such as an email address and/or phonenumber, household information, type of residence, military deploymentinformation, whether the customer has filed claims on previous homes,etc. Product information may include the purchase price for the home,the address of the home, the size of the home, a number of stories inthe home, a number of bedrooms and/or bathrooms in the home, the yearthe home was built, the overall condition of the home, whether the homeis above or below ground, additional liability hazards such as aswimming pool, etc.

In some embodiments, some of the personal and/or product information maybe used to determine insurance risk information. For example, thecustomer's mailing address may be used as a risk location for thecustomer. Moreover, the address of the purchased home may be used todetermine whether the home is in a location at high risk for tornados,earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. In any event, a level of risk which may bea numeric score, percentage, category from a set of categories, etc.,may be assessed based upon the personal and/or product informationobtained at the insurance provider server (block 520).

The level of risk may be used to determine insurance premiums forvarious types of coverage within an insurance policy (block 522). Forexample, a customer with a high level of risk may be required to pay avery high premium, whereas a customer with a low level of risk may berequired to pay a very low premium. The insurance quote for each type ofcoverage may be transmitted to the online retailer 104 to be displayedon an insurance coverage selection screen and viewed by the customer(block 524). The customer may then select to accept or decline each typeof coverage, for example, by using a drop-down menu and/or other usercontrol on the client device 106-116. The selected types of coverage maybe received by the insurance provider server 102 (block 526), and aninsurance quote representing the sum total of the insurance policy orsome portion thereof for the selected types of coverage may be displayedon the client device 106-116 (block 528).

The online retailer 104 may then receive payment from the customer forboth the product and the insurance policy, for example, when thecustomer selects the “Submit Payment” button. As a result, the onlineretailer 104 may transmit payment in the amount of the purchase pricefor the insurance policy or some portion thereof to the insuranceprovider (block 530). For example, the online retailer may receive acommission on the sale of the insurance policy that is proportional tothe level of risk assessed for the customer. As a result, the onlineretailer may transmit payment to the insurance provider in the amount ofthe difference between the purchase price for the insurance policy andthe commission. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternateactions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

VI. Exemplary Method for Insurance Integration

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for integrating an onlineinsurance purchase with an online purchase of an insurable product maybe provided. The method may include: (1) obtaining (via one or moreprocessors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or datatransmission) an indication of an online selection of an insurableproduct by a customer, wherein the insurable product is selected via anonline retailer; (2) receiving (via the one or more processors, and/orwired or wireless communication and/or data transmission from the onlineretailer) user history information corresponding to the customer; (3)determining (via the one or more processors) whether the customer iseligible for an online insurance purchase which provides coverage forthe insurable product according to a set of eligibility rules, basedupon the user history information corresponding to the customer; and/orwhen the customer is eligible for the online insurance purchase, themethod may include: (4) receiving (via the one or more processors,and/or wired or wireless communication and/or data transmission)customer insurance risk information for the customer; (5) determining(via the one or more processors) a level of risk for insuring thecustomer based upon the customer insurance risk information; (6)determining (via the one or more processors) an insurance quote basedupon the level of risk for insuring the customer; (7) transmitting (viathe one or more processors, and/or wired or wireless communicationand/or data transmission) an indication of an offer to provide insurancefor the insurable product which is to be displayed in a first orderreview page, wherein the first order review page includes an indicationof the insurable product; and/or (8) upon receiving a request from thecustomer to purchase the insurance, transmitting (via the one or moreprocessors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or datatransmission) the insurance quote to be displayed in a second orderreview page to facilitate providing immediate, binding, and/oractionable insurance coverage for the insurable product at the time ofpurchase. The method may further include receiving (via the one or moreprocessors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or datatransmission) an indication of a type of the insurable product; and/orreceiving (via the one or more processors, and/or wired or wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission) product insurance informationfor the insurable product wherein determining the level of risk forinsuring the customer is further based upon at least one of: the type ofthe insurable product, or the product insurance risk information for theinsurable product. The method may also include transmitting (via one ormore processors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or datatransmission) an insurance coverage selection page including one or moretypes of insurance coverage provided corresponding to the insurancequote. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions,including those discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the act of determining whether the customer is eligiblefor the online insurance purchase may include generating (via the one ormore processors) the set of eligibility rules; and/or when the userhistory information matches the set of eligibility rules, determiningthat the customer is eligible for the online insurance purchase. The actof receiving customer insurance risk information for the customer mayinclude automatically obtaining (via the one or more processors, and/orwired or wireless communication and/or data transmission) the customerinsurance risk information from the online retailer.

On the other hand, the act of receiving customer insurance riskinformation for the customer may include transmitting (via the one ormore processors, and/or wired or wireless communication and/or datatransmission) an insurance application page including one or more usercontrols for entering customer insurance risk information; and/orreceiving (via the one or more processors, and/or wired or wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission) the customer insurance riskinformation from the customer via the insurance application page.

User history information may include at least one of: a number oftransactions completed by the customer via the online retailer, abusiness approval rating, financial account information, employmenthistory, and/or a credit rating. The set of eligibility rules mayinclude at least one of: a predetermined threshold number oftransactions made by the customer through the online retailer, apredetermined threshold approval rating for the customer, and/or apredetermined threshold credit rating for the customer.

The type of insurable product may include at least one of: anautomobile, a boat, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, real estate property,and/or a personal article. When the insurable product is an automobile,the product insurance risk information for the insurable product mayinclude at least one of: a vehicle identification number (VIN), vehiclepurchase history for the automobile, a number of safety features in theautomobile, and/or an indication of one or more antitheft devices in theautomobile.

The second order review page may further include a purchase price forthe insurable product, an overall purchase price including anaggregation of the insurance quote and the purchase price for theinsurable product, and/or a payment information section for receivingpayment information from the customer.

VII. Exemplary System for Insurance Integration

In one aspect, a system for integrating an online insurance purchasewith an online purchase of an insurable product may be provided. Thesystem may include a communication network, one or more processorscommunicatively coupled to the communication network, and/or anon-transitory, tangible computer-readable memory coupled to the one ormore processors and storing machine readable instructions, that whenexecuted by the one or more processors, may cause the system to performvarious tasks. For example, the instructions may cause the system to:(1) receive, from an online retailer and via the communication network,an indication of an online selection of an insurable product by acustomer, wherein the insurable product is selected via the onlineretailer; (2) receive, from the online retailer, user historyinformation corresponding to the customer; and/or (3) determine whetherthe customer is eligible for an online insurance purchase which providescoverage for the insurable product according to a set of eligibilityrules, based upon the user history information corresponding to thecustomer. When the customer is eligible for the online insurancepurchase, the instruction may cause the system to: (4) receive customerinsurance risk information for the customer; (5) determine a level ofrisk for insuring the customer based upon the customer insurance riskinformation; (6) determine an insurance quote based upon the level ofrisk for insuring the customer; (7) transmit, via the communicationnetwork, an indication of an offer to provide insurance for theinsurable product to be displayed in a first order review page on aweb-enabled device of the customer, wherein the first order review pageincludes an indication of the insurable product; and/or (8) uponreceiving a request from the customer to purchase the insurance,transmit, via the communication network, the insurance quote to bedisplayed in a second order review page on the web-enabled device tofacilitate providing immediate, binding, and/or actionable insurancecoverage for the insurable product at the time of purchase. The systemmay include additional, fewer, or alternate components and/orfunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the instructions may cause the system to receive anindication of a type of the insurable product, and/or receive productinsurance information for the insurable product, wherein to determinethe level of risk for insuring the customer is further based upon atleast one of: the type of the insurable product, or product insurancerisk information for the insurable product. The instructions may alsocause the system to transmit an insurance coverage selection pageincluding one or more types of insurance coverage provided correspondingto the insurance quote.

To determine whether the customer is eligible for the online insurancepurchase, the instructions may cause the system to: generate the set ofeligibility rules, and/or when the user history information matches theset of eligibility rules, determine that the customer is eligible forthe online insurance purchase. To receive customer insurance riskinformation for the customer, the instructions may cause the system to:automatically obtain the customer insurance risk information from theonline retailer or a third party.

On the other hand, to receive customer insurance risk information, theinstructions may cause the system to: transmit an insurance applicationpage including one or more user controls for entering customer insurancerisk information, and/or receive the customer insurance risk informationfrom the customer via the insurance application page.

User history information may include at least one of: a number oftransactions completed by the customer via the online retailer, abusiness approval rating, financial account information, employmenthistory, and/or a credit rating. The set of eligibility rules mayinclude at least one of: a predetermined threshold number oftransactions made by the customer through the online retailer, apredetermined threshold approval rating for the customer, and/or apredetermined threshold credit rating for the customer.

The type of insurable product may include at least one of: anautomobile, a boat, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, real estate property,and/or a personal article. When the insurable product is an automobile,the product insurance risk information for the insurable product mayinclude at least one of: a vehicle identification number (VIN), vehiclepurchase history for the automobile, a number of safety features in theautomobile, and/or an indication of one or more antitheft devices in theautomobile.

The second order review page may further include a purchase price forthe insurable product, an overall purchase price including anaggregation of the insurance quote and the purchase price for theinsurable product, and/or a payment information section for receivingpayment information from the customer.

VIII. Additional Considerations

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the description is defined by the words of the claims set forthat the end of this patent and equivalents. The detailed description isto be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment since describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented,using either current technology or technology developed after the filingdate of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of theclaims.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ ishereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intentto limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based upon any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent isreferred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning,that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader,and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, by implicationor otherwise, to that single meaning. The patent claims at the end ofthis patent application are not intended to be construed under 35 U.S.C.§ 112(f) unless traditional means-plus-function language is expresslyrecited, such as “means for” or “step for” language being explicitlyrecited in the claim(s).

Accordingly, the term “online retailer,” as used herein, may be used torefer to any individual, or business which sells, or provides servicesfor selling, goods to consumers or businesses over the Internet. Forexample, online retailers may include dealer/broker websites as well asservices that connect private sellers to private buyers.

As used herein, the term “insurable product” may be used to refer toproperty (personal or real estate) capable of being insured against lossor harm. For example, insurable products may include a home, acondominium, an apartment, an automobile, a motorcycle, a boat, asnowmobile, jewelry, furs, a camera, an instrument, furniture,silverware, art, collectibles, sports equipment, computer equipment,electronics, machinery, etc.

The term “insurance provider” as used herein, generally refers to aparty and/or entity (e.g., a business and/or other organizationalentity) that provides insurance products, e.g., by offering and/orissuing insurance policies. Typically, but not necessarily an insuranceprovider may be an insurance company. Further, an insurance provider maybe any individual, group of individuals, company, corporation, and/orother type of entity that may issue insurance policies for customers,such as insurance policies associated with properties.

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement components, operations, or structures described as a singleinstance. Although individual operations of one or more methods areillustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of theindividual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothingrequires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a machine-readable medium or in a transmission signal) or hardware.In hardware, the routines, etc., are tangible units capable ofperforming certain operations and may be configured or arranged in acertain manner. In example embodiments, one or more computer systems(e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or morehardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group ofprocessors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules may provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it isobvious that it is meant otherwise.

This detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and doesnot describe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One could implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

We claim:
 1. A computer-implemented method of integrating an onlinepurchase of insurance with an online purchase of a retail product, themethod executed by one or more processors of a client device programmedto perform the method, the method comprising: receiving and presenting,via a web browser of a client device of a customer from an onlineretailer server, a first online retailer web page including one or moredisplay elements associated with the retail product; receiving, via theweb browser, an indication of an online selection of the retail productby the customer via a first user control of the first online retailerweb page; transmitting, by the client device to the online retailerserver, the indication of the online selection of the retail product;receiving, at the client device, insurance coverage information from aninsurance provider server for insuring the retail product including aninsurance quote; presenting, via the web browser, an insurance coverageselection web page including one or more types of insurance coverageprovided corresponding to the insurance quote; receiving, via the webbrowser, a selection of at least one of the one more types of insurancecoverage; transmitting, by the client device, the selection of the atleast one type of insurance coverage to the online retailer server;receiving and presenting, via the web browser, a second online retailerweb page that displays (A) the insurance coverage information from theinsurance provider server for the selected at least one type ofinsurance coverage and (B) at least one of the display elements from thefirst online retailer web page indicating information for the retailproduct; and transmitting, by the client device to the online retailerserver, payment information for purchasing the retail product and theselected at least one type of insurance coverage.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the insurance providerserver determines whether the customer is eligible to purchase theinsurance according to whether user history information of the customermatches a set of eligibility rules.
 3. The computer-implemented methodof claim 2, wherein user history information includes at least one of: anumber of transactions completed by the customer via the onlineretailer, a business approval rating, financial account information,employment history, or a credit rating; and wherein the set ofeligibility rules includes at least one of: a predetermined thresholdnumber of transactions made by the customer through the online retailer,a predetermined threshold approval rating for the customer, or apredetermined threshold credit rating for the customer.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the online retailerserver obtains customer insurance risk information for the customer. 5.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the insuranceprovider server determines the insurance quote based upon a level ofrisk for insuring the customer that is based upon at least one of: atype of the retail product, or product insurance risk information forthe retail product.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5,wherein the type of the retail product includes at least one of: anautomobile, a boat, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, real estate property, ora personal article.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6,wherein the retail product is an automobile and wherein the productinsurance risk information for the retail product includes at least oneof: a vehicle identification number (VIN), vehicle purchase history forthe automobile, a number of safety features in the automobile, or anindication of one or more antitheft devices in the automobile.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising:receiving and presenting, via the web browser from the online retailerserver, an insurance application web page including one or more usercontrols for entering customer insurance risk information; andtransmitting, by the client device to the online retailer server, thecustomer insurance risk information from the customer via the insuranceapplication web page.
 9. A computer system for integrating an onlinepurchase of insurance with an online purchase of a retail product, thesystem comprising: a communication network; one or more processors of aclient device communicatively coupled to the communication network; anda non-transitory computer-readable memory coupled to the one or moreprocessors of the client device and storing thereon instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:receive and present, via a web browser of the client device from anonline retailer server, a first online retailer web page including oneor more display elements associated with the retail product; receive,via the web browser, an indication of an online selection of the retailproduct by a customer via a first user control of the first onlineretailer web page; transmit, to the online retailer server, theindication of the online selection of the retail product; receive, froman insurance provider server, insurance coverage information forinsuring the retail product including an insurance quote; present, viathe web browser, an insurance coverage selection web page including oneor more types of insurance coverage provided corresponding to theinsurance quote; receive, via the web browser, a selection of at leastone of the one more types of insurance coverage; transmit the selectionof the at least one type of insurance coverage to the online retailerserver; receive and present, via the web browser from the onlineretailer server, a second online retailer web page that displays (A) theinsurance coverage information from the insurance provider server forthe selected at least one type of insurance coverage, and (B) at leastone of the display elements from the first online retailer web pageindicating information for the retail product; and transmit, to theonline retailer server, payment information for purchasing the retailproduct and the selected at least one type of insurance coverage. 10.The system of claim 9, wherein the insurance provider server determineswhether the customer is eligible to purchase the insurance according towhether user history information of the customer matches a set ofeligibility rules.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein user historyinformation includes at least one of: a number of transactions completedby the customer via the online retailer, a business approval rating,financial account information, employment history, or a credit rating;and wherein the set of eligibility rules includes at least one of: apredetermined threshold number of transactions made by the customerthrough the online retailer, a predetermined threshold approval ratingfor the customer, or a predetermined threshold credit rating for thecustomer.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the online retailer serverobtains customer insurance risk information for the customer.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the insurance provider server determines theinsurance quote based upon a level of risk for insuring the customerthat is based upon at least one of: a type of the retail product, orproduct insurance risk information for the retail product.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the type of the retail product includes atleast one of: an automobile, a boat, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, realestate property, or a personal article.
 15. The system of claim 14,wherein the retail product is an automobile and wherein productinsurance risk information for the retail product includes at least oneof: a vehicle identification number (VIN), vehicle purchase history forthe automobile, a number of safety features in the automobile, or anindication of one or more antitheft devices in the automobile.
 16. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause the system to: receiveand present, via the web browser from the online retailer server, aninsurance application web page including one or more user controls forentering customer insurance risk information; and transmit, to theonline retailer server, the customer insurance risk information from thecustomer via the insurance application web page.